Play, engagement and multiliteracy to produce the “viable unheard of” in a multilingual environment

Abstract

We aim to present an interactive cross-language experience in a creative learning environment, where participants were invited to make use of their communicative strategies in a multicultural context. In this proposal, it is presented how the concepts of Play (VYGOTSKY, 1933), Engaged Multiliteracy (LIBERALI, 2022) and Multiliteracy are intertwined to produce the “viable unheard of” (FREIRE, 1987) in the Brincadas Project, a Brazilian initiative supported by the Global Play Brigade, an international group from more than 60 countries, including Brazil. This Project emerged as a response to the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the Brincadas Project's objective is to transform oppressive social contexts, or, as Paulo Freire (FREIRE, 1987) would say "limiting situations", materializing new alternatives to overcome the obstacles that have been imposed in everyday life in the midst of the pandemic of COVID-19.  In this virtual Carnival activity, participants were invited to use their different repertoires, and social life experiences to recreate them in a more critical and revolutionary way, re-signifying their learning and expanding their acting possibilities. For this article, we refer to a Virtual Carnival experience offered by the Brincadas Project in February of 2021.